Washington Township, Auglaize County

• Neil Armstrong1930-2012Commander of Apollo 11 and the first person to walk on the Moon, July 20, 1969.

How Washington Township, Auglaize County began

Washington Township was formally erected December 1, 1836, by the Allen County commissioners on petition of its residents, though its first white settler, Shadrack Montgomery, had arrived in section twenty-four back in 1830 and had no playmates but Indian boys for his first years there. The township is best known as the birthplace of astronaut Neil Armstrong, born August 5, 1930, on his grandparents' farm southwest of Wapakoneta. The village of New Knoxville, platted in 1836 by James K. Lytle in the township's southwest corner, is home to the H. E. Fledderjohann House and its office and summer kitchen, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and keeps a sister-city relationship with Ladbergen, Germany, the ancestral home of many of its settlers.

Settled 1830, incorporated 1836-12-01, by petitioned by residents of survey township six south, range five east; first settled by Shadrack Montgomery.

Where the name comes from

A generic patriotic name, one of forty-three Washington Townships in Ohio; no township-specific naming story was found.

Before the town

No Native American villages, mounds, or documented sites specific to Washington Township were found in the sources searched. The township's first settler, Shadrack Montgomery, arrived in 1830 on land bordering the Shawnee reservation around Wapakoneta, and his son Archibald, twelve years old at the time, later recalled having no companions but Indian boys through 1830-1832, becoming fluent enough in their language and skilled enough with a bow to be remembered for it. The township lies within the broader area historically used by the Shawnee before the 1832 removal centered at nearby Wapakoneta.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

Timeline

1. 1830 — Shadrack Montgomery, the township's first white settler, locates in section 24; he later serves as a trustee at the township's organization, as a county commissioner, and as a justice of the peace.
2. 1834-1835 — Elias Horner teaches the township's first school, in a log cabin in section 24 with basswood-puncheon seats and greased paper for windows.
3. 1836-12-01 — Washington Township is formally erected by the Allen County commissioners; the first township election is set for December 20, 1836, at George Esperson's house.
4. 1836 — New Knoxville is laid out in 102 village lots by James K. Lytle.
5. 1858 — A post office called New Knoxville begins operation.
6. 1930-08-05 — Neil Armstrong is born August 5 on his grandparents' farm in the township, southwest of Wapakoneta.
7. 1986 — New Knoxville marks its sesquicentennial; about 100 residents of Ladbergen, Germany, the ancestral home of many local families, travel over to join the celebration.
8. 1993-12-10 — The H. E. Fledderjohann House, Doctor's Office and Summer Kitchen in New Knoxville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stories

The farm where the first man on the Moon was born

On August 5, 1930, Neil Armstrong was born on his grandparents' farm in Washington Township, southwest of Wapakoneta. The Armstrong family moved often in his early childhood, living in more than a dozen Ohio towns before settling permanently in Wapakoneta in 1944, but the township farm where he was born is the true starting point of a life that ended on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The birthplace connects an otherwise ordinary farm township, home also to the village of New Knoxville, to the county's best-known modern story.

A boy with no playmates but Indian boys

Shadrack Montgomery brought his family to Washington Township in 1830, before the township even had a name, and settled where the reservation land around Wapakoneta still bordered his own. His son Archibald, twelve years old when they arrived, later recalled that through 1830, 1831 and 1832 he had no other children to play with except Indian boys, and grew fluent in their language and skilled with their bow as a result. Montgomery himself became one of the township's first trustees, a county commissioner, and a noted hunter who claimed to have killed the last deer, and the last wolf, ever seen in the county; New Knoxville, laid out six years after his arrival, and the German settlers who followed from Ladbergen, grew up on land the Montgomery family had first shared with Shawnee neighbors.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · hmdb.org · archive.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• New Knoxville Village40% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Wapakoneta City38% of residentsTeays River Buried Valley Aquifer (wells)
• St. Marys City14% of residentsTeays River Buried Valley Aquifer (wells)
• The Way International4% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Botkins Village3% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Lakeside Estates Mobile Home Park0% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)

Museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Who holds office

Roster as of 2026-09-18: county board of elections.

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-09-26

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